Under the Necromancer's Eye
by Machinesister
Summary: The Fighters at Artxe High must fight a demon from long ago that has poisoned their lives presently. CHP5: Dennis is 'kidnapped'.
1. Vengeance resulting from nightmares

It's a story I wrote long ago...when I was still quite good at LF2... hope you like it The characterization is a bit crappy cuz I was a bit young when I wrote this...it's now on hiatus, but I have many more chapters to upload. Maybe you can rekindle my passion for this... hinthintnudgenudgeinnuendoinnuendo  
  
Prologue  
  
Banished; there he stands. The Necromancer, the Dark Summoner. Burning with vengeance, vowing to destroy. Unthinkable distances away, a new group of people are created; united through a prophecy, divided by their human natures. All posessing blood that boils with an unsettling obsession. Blessed with the same past, cursed with an uncertain future. People who are willing to fight. People who are just like you and I. People named, Little Fighters.  
  
IN THE VERY BEGINNING...  
  
Screams and painful sobs choked the thick air, mingled with the duet of the wolves and the wind. All LF Earth was a battlefield, thanks to one young, devious man: Julian. Every muscle charred and hardened with fire, he was the ruler; he was all-powerful, but he lacked a heart. His only wish was to reign over the stars, to spread darkness and despair to every corner of the world. His greatest ally was that of equally great power: Firzen, Master of Fire and Ice. Handsome and green haired, he was prepared to sacrifice all to his friend: except two. For Julian had uncovered the Scroll of the Warriors, and discovered an ancient way to gain overwhelming strength: by engulfing in fire the sons of the power-seeker and the sons of his most faithful ally.  
  
1. Days of Our Short Lives  
  
'Aaaahhh...' yawned Davis, as he stretched out his arms. It was a beautiful sunny day in Tai Hom Village, his home town. The birds were twittering away, hopping from tree to tree.... He sprang out of his bed, barged out his room and went to call up Dennis and Woody, his younger brothers. 'Dennis first', he announced jovially, since Dennis was the one who hated waking up the most, and marching up to Dennis's room, opened the door.   
  
His little brother's room was wide and extremely spacious. It had the airy freshness of a house whert the windows were open perpetusally. Although Dennis was also a teenager, like him and Woody, he was cheekily humourous and reminded one of a bouncing toddler, thought Davis, before hurriedly squashing in a 'Sorry Dennis, forgive my wild imagination' before doodling his way to his brother's bed.   
  
'Hey, Dennis!!' he coaxed, pushing gently on the bundle of blankets in the middle of the bed, 'Wake up!!!' There was no reply. Davis, getting agitated, shook the blankets in desperate attempt to get his brother out of bed. 'Dennis, don't act dumb, I know you're there.' he said through gritted teeth.   
  
The blankets didn't budge, and not a peep came from underneath.   
  
'OKAY! YOU ASKED FOR IT!' yelled Davis crazily, although still filled with a crisp happy feeling inside of him, as he pulled the blankets away. Then he froze. Lying on the bed, bloody and putrefied, was Dennis's carcass (or maybe that's how Davis thought it looked like). His abrupt change from joy to horror unnerved even himself. The body's acrid smell burnt Davis's nose, and Davis, mortified, broke down in sobs, sinking onto his knees.   
  
'No...no...Dennis, you can't die! This is a dream, this is a dream!!' he cried, heartbroken. Now, this house would be quieter. There would not be anyone to make fun of him. There would not be anyone fighting over Jan with Woody. There would not be...Dennis...After a considerable amount of time, he stood up, vengeance burning in his eyes. By now Davis was quiet, like the threatening calm preceding a thunderstorm.   
  
A flame flared in his heart. He was going to find this murderer, whoever it may be. This act surely deserves an agonizing death of a thousand flies! He fell oddly quiet, as he looked at Dennis's corpse for the last time, almost as if seeking comfort, but what met his eyes caused him to turn away in disgust. He shrouded Dennis ceremoniously with the blanket, trying hard not to choke or look the other way, and walked out Dennis's room, stiff as a poker. He would have to tell Woody the news. He would help and comfort him, he knew he would. Woody was more mature, sober, for he had been through more...much more...yet Davis always had the odd habit of going to Dennis rather; he did not like to admit it, but he preferred his youngest brother to him. Woody's door creaked open with the normal sound associated with a broken hinge. Davis first let his mind drift gently to the time when they moved rooms, and Woody got the worst room because he was always out of the house. He had always spoken about getting the hinge fixed, but Dennis would pour cold water on him, saying...no, no. It was too painful. Davis instead fixed his eyes determinedly on the bed in front of him, as though on an assignment involving an impossible mission. It was hard to start a conversation with Woody; he did not have the talkativeness of Dennis. Davis saw the toilet brush hairdo sticking out the bedcovers.   
  
He looped around the bed, ducked, and surfaced to check the breathing. The blankets heaved up and down slightly. Good, not a dead Woody, Davis thought. 'Woody?' he ventured tentatively. A hand slowly moved up from the bed, and drew back the covers...  
  
...HORROR OF MOST MACABRE HORRORS....   
  
It was not Woody. It couldn't be. In front of him was the most petrifying face Davis had ever seen. Those red eyes, eyes that he could not look into without flinching, the dark bronze skin, the lopsided mouth, leering evilly at him, as though mocking him of his stupidity...no. Never Woody. The real Woody didn't look like this. This could not be him. He had lost yet another of his closest brothers. Despite himself, he felt a sharp gush of hate, loathing, bubbling inside his stomach, as though waiting to be released when he threw up. This time Davis could not handle it any longer. Pain, actual pain, blurred with the emotional impact; he let out a scream, a piercing scream of utter frustration. He lost control of his feelings totally, all he felt was a numb emptiness, as he tore at his chest, cursing mother Earth, cursing everyone.   
  
'NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!'   
  
'Shut up, will you?'   
  
'How dare you wake me up so early in the morning? Die!' Davis blinked. His pupils narrowed as he slowly widened his eyelids. The bright golden sunlight filtered through the curtains into the room. He looked up. Above him were the swimming faces of Dennis and Woody. The blurred images sharpened, and like a video that is paused and resumed, the figures started to talk.   
  
'What on LF2 Earth are you doing?' said Dennis indignantly, 'you just woke me up from this really cool dream where I was dancing with Jan!'   
  
'The hell are you doing?!' asked Woody anxiously, staring at Davis's bare chest, 'I wouldn't be surprised if you had the genes of a cat!' Davis stared at his own chest. Ugly scratch marks ran down the otherwise smooth tanned skin. Damn it all this thing hurts, thought Davis, biting his lip. He suddenly realised how stupid this situation seemed; he, the oldest brother, acting like a real cat in front of his two mismatched brothers due to some weird dream that did not matter whatsoever to them. Drifting out of this state of mind, he noticed Dennis and Woody's odd-looking faces as he put on an 'I'm confused, do not disturb' sign on his facial expression, and tried to recollect what had happened in that fateful dream...  
  
'Davis, your face looks like the back of a spoon,' said Dennis, raising a thin eyebrow.   
  
'Shh Dennis, you ponce, can't you see that 'Do not Disturb' sign pasted on his face?' hissed Woody, as he elbowed Dennis hard in the stomach.   
  
'Owch...fine...' Davis shut these annoying sounds from his head, trying to remember what had caused him to scream like that. First, Dennis had died. Then, he had found the hideous, ugly beast lying in Woody's bed. He narrowed his eyes... So did Dennis and Woody after they had heard his story. 'I think I have seen that guy before...' said Davis. 'Don't start,' said Dennis. Woody checked his watch. 'Shirt, it's already eight o' clock!' he exclaimed, 'we're going to be late for school!'   
  
'Not that you care,' smiled Dennis wryly, then turned to Davis. 'Davis, it's ok. It's only a dream, it's not like it just happened.' he soothed.   
  
'Yeah, guess so....' Davis shrugged. He slipped the thought into the back of his head, hoping to forget it, and climbed out of bed.   
  
'See ya Daves,' winked Dennis, as he went back to his room to change for school. 'Bye bro,' waved Woody, as he, too, exited, leaving Davis alone. Davis sighed, opened his cupboard and pulled out his dark grey uniform, deep in thought. Dennis is right, he thought to himself, it is just a dream. Why should he give a damn? But then, perhaps he should...he closed his eyes as he pulled on his blue-grey socks. That beast...somehow, vaguely, he could remember seeing it before, when he was small...   
  
'Ag, come off it,' he shrugged loudly to himself. He walked out his room, feeling the hard bakelite floor, into the kitchen. Dennis and Woody were eating last night's cold pizza, watching LFTV2, where Henry Rehcra, the world famous musician was performing. He seated himself and watched the television, listening to the beautiful melody. 'Breakfast show on Mondays, right?' he shot at Dennis, who nodded.   
  
'Daves, this is yours,' said Woody, as he pushed a plate with Hawaii pizza across the table to him. Not noticing what he was eating, Davis picked up his portion and pushed it bit by bit into his mouth as he gaped at the show. 'Days of our Short Lives, the famous opera,' he read at the bottom of the screen.   
  
'It's named that because all the people in there are very short-lived,' explained Dennis, 'there is a lot of violence.' 'I heard he is multitalented,' said Woody, chewing on his pizza base, 'he is an archer as well. He is the third best archer in the world.'  
  
'Damn him,' said Davis listlessly. He hadn't even passed Level 3 in his own martial arts exam, whereas Dennis and Woody both passed Level 4. BEEP, BEEP, came a sound from the front door.   
  
'It's the bus, let's go.' said Davis. He was sincerely looking forward to today, hoping that the lessons, and the extra session of self-defence he had after school, would drive the unsettling worries out of his mind. All three of them rushed out and boarded the bus. 


	2. A Ninja can summon ice?

A/N: I made Jan a 60% Mary Sue (she's in canon) by accident...but I think she was made to be that way. By the way, if you're wondering who Jan is, she's an existing character and the only girl character in LF2, you can find her in stage mode but she's not very strong...you can see her picture if you type lf2.net in the character selection screen.  
  
2. A Ninja can summon ice?!  
  
'Hey Davis, Woody, Dennis! Howzit my comrades?' as soon as they had got on, a burly golden-haired teen yelled from the back seat with his hand on a seat for three.   
  
'We're ok, Firen,' grinned Davis, as he and his brother took the seat Firen Erif had reserved for them.   
  
'Losers!!!' bellowed a tall, muscular boy from the front row, 'Girls!!'   
  
'Shut up Deep, I'm not taking any crap from you.' shouted Firen, as he showed Deep the one-finger salute (the middle finger). Deep Drows, the extremely frightening-looking bully who cannot run fast and owns about two brain cells. He thought he was the best, for he was in Level 5 (LF training has 8 Levels). Ever since Dennis was suspended for failing the headlice examination and Woody got detention for wearing jewellery (his armbands and necklace all counted as 'jewellery'), he had been beating the three brothers up, teasing them and mocking them.   
  
'Hey, do you guys know about new guys that are coming today?' asked a very good-looking boy before them, turning his head. He was actually a show-off and quite snotty, because he was the headmaster's son and was very rich and knew about all the new people coming.   
  
'He knows we don't know,' muttered Woody, 'He's asking that on purpose.'   
  
'Who?' snapped Dennis irritably. He had something against this boy, and always got pissed of by his arrogant questions.   
  
'See for yourselves,' humped the boy with an obnoxious tone that could make anyone's blood boil, raising his head slightly in a superior manner. Firen, who was looking out the window, suddenly said, 'Huh? This is not the direction of our school!'  
  
This, of course, caused the entire bus to look out. With a screech of tires, the bus skidded to a halt in front of a small shack with a garden littered with peach blossoms. Everyone held their breath, waiting for something of a miracle to happen. Either that, or they thought a bomb was going to explode in their faces. It didn't. Instead, a young teenager of no more than seventeen glided smoothly out of the shack. His defectless movement was backed up by the fresh breeze, giving him a wraith-like appearance. His dark brown hair, tied up with a plum-coloured elastic band, was matched by a pair of gleaming brown eyes, with glittering sparks dancing in the pupils. There was a sort of placid calm in his aura, and as he sauntered gracefully into the bus, his presence could be felt by everyone.   
  
Even Deep's head turned; the girls, who were chatting and giggling, desisted. As soon as he reached the rear section of the vehicle, the annoying headmaster's son immediately stood up, grabbed his hand in a vigorous handshake, and introduced, 'Salutations, my name is Louis Artxe. Would you like to sit here?' he showed him the empty seat beside him (cuz he had no friends).   
  
'I'm Rudolf Ajnin, it's all right,' the new boy said in a clear voice, pointing to Firen and the three brothers, 'I'll sit with them.' To Firen's utter annoyance, the new boy promptly glued his buttocks onto the vacant seat beside him. As the engine revved up again, he did not speak another word, as no one seemed to want to strike up a conversation with him, for they felt awkward compared to Rudolf's seemingly uncanny serenity.   
  
'Next stop, the Geek's house.' said Davis, rolling his eyes. 'The Geek' was a nickname that was given to one of the academics in Level 4. It belonged to a guy named John Rerecros, a weird, long-haired, bespectacled nerd whose only passion in life was to read and do magic. Sad though he may be, at the mention of this, everyone's faces brightened up. The reason was not John Rerecros, but rather his beautiful older sister, Jan. Jan was an outspoken, mature, seemingly different girl, who possessed beauty, figure, humour and wit that was enough to make any male's heart skip a beat. Of course, she was the target of most of the boys' Valentine's cards, and also the secret crush of Dennis, Woody and a gaggle of other drooling candidates.   
  
Sure enough, as Davis had predicted, the bus stopped in front of a village- style house, whitewashed and decorated with climbing ivy. The Rerecros family was already standing on the pavement. John, with his weird-looking ivory-rimmed glasses, Jan with her flowing aquamarine hair that lifted with every drought, but there was also another guy, standing with them. His skin was light; in fact it even seemed translucent, he was a little frail-looking, contrasting sharply with his silver-blue hair which spiked and spiralled in various creative directions other than north, south, east and west.   
  
'Who's that?' asked Davis, pointing to the blue haired boy.   
  
'I have not a clue,' sighed Firen, as he turned away to face the other window. He was blushing because Jan had just caught his eye. It was amazing how the hush fell on the bus as the three teens entered it. Louis, for a change, did not shoot up several feet and start to address the new person, indicating that, unless Louis was temporary blind for the occasion, there was something definately wrong with him.  
  
'Who's that?' asked Davis to Dennis, pointing at the blue haired boy once again. Dennis did not answer, for he was staring at Jan, open-mouthed. Davis tried Woody, but all he could get out of him a strangled stutter.   
  
'J-j-Jan...' Woody gaped jealously at the two bluettes, no doubt suspicious about the new guy. Davis suppressed a laugh, he knew what Woody was thinking.   
  
'I'm going to ask,' he said finally, straightening up, 'bye.' He walked straight to where John was standing and said, 'Hi John, how are you?'   
  
'I'm okay.' 'Who's that?' Davis pointed to tbhg.   
  
'My cousin.' John didn't seem eager to disclose any information. Davis went up to tbhg and could sensed the mysterious calm of his aura. It was as if everything around him suddenly froze at his passing. There was a strangely impressive air hanging around him.  
  
Too unlike John's who's air hangs around him like a bad smell that won't go away, thought Davis. Davis gently prodded the boy on his back. For some reason the boy was unable to take his eyes off Firen, as if he was a long lost brother or distant relative. The boy turned around sharply. Davis examined his facial features closely. The boy was his age, about sixteen years old. His facial features were not bad-looking, it blended perfectly with his oddly pale complexion. 'Excuse me, brother, my name is Davis, welcome here.' Davis stammered, faltering at his cold stare.   
  
The boy's face broke into a gracious smile, and extended a ghostly hand as he introduced, 'Hello Davis, I'm Freeze. Freeze Nezrif.' Freeze, thought Davis. What a name. But then, it suits him.   
  
Davis went back to the back seats, where Jan was standing, talking to Dennis and Woody. Both of then were stammering and smiling in a sheepish kind of way. Firen was looking the other way, trying very hard not to look jealous.   
  
'H-h-he...is...o-over...there...' Davis heard Dennis splutter, as he pointed to Davis. Jan turned around immediately, to find that Davis was standing right behind her. '  
  
Oh...hi,' she said quickly, before hurrying to where John and Freeze were. 'What's up with her?' asked Davis, pointing a finger at Jan, as he resumed his original place.   
  
'She was looking for you, for some reason. What did she say to you?' murmured Woody.   
  
'Nothing. She just said hi and walked away.' mused Davis, 'I don't get her.'   
  
'Just said hi?' said Dennis devillishly, 'I thought she said she was trying to get to you to introduce her cousin to you. But then -' he looked particularly malevolent, '- she saw that John had already done so, so she looked kind of nervous and tried asking if -'   
  
'Okay, okay, we get the point,' said Woody carelessly, shutting Dennis up with his very well known "Practical Hand of Silence", 'now can you please cork you large shovelled hole?'   
  
'Not that I have a choice,' spat Dennis, after removing Woody's hand from his mouth. Personally, Davis wasn't interested in girls, not even Jan. He cast his eyes to where Rudolf was. Gosh, he seems like a loner, he thought. The bus stopped once again, in front of a huge building. The bus immediately began to stir, as everyone collected their bags and stood up. When the door of the bus swung open with a click, the entire contents of the vehicle poured out, like a large amount of runny snot.  
  
'C'mon,' muttered Firen, searching for his rucksack, 'let's go...' The four of them walked out and felt the cool breeze whipping on their faces.   
  
'Hey Dennis, did you do your Maths homework?' asked Firen, smiling.   
  
'Oh, no, forgot,' Dennis said, biting his lip. Firen immediately shoved him his exercise book.   
  
'Here, you can copy from mine.' he had taken an special liking to him, for Dennis had something in his nature that Davis and Woody didn't.   
  
'You never do your homework, do you?' said Davis suspiciously, narrowing his eyes.   
  
'It's not my fault.' Dennis shrugged, as he packed the precious book into his bag.   
  
'Argh no,' groaned Woody, as they stepped into the building together, 'Science, first thing in the morning.'   
  
'Copy my Maths homework then,' suggested Firen to Dennis.   
  
'Don't be an idiot, we've got a test today!' said Davis, slapping Firen on the back.   
  
'Oh, yeah, right...' As they stepped into the Science classroom, they saw that Professor Hermann was already there to meet them. Personally, Davis disliked him very much. He looked like a buffalo, with dark, bluish facial skin and a pair of mean, piggy blue eyes that seemed to tinge on red whenever he got angry. In fact, there were many people who questioned Professor Hermann's species; he almost seemed as though he was not human.   
  
'Sit. Down.' he commanded shortly to the newcoming class. As soon as everyone was seated, he began slowly, 'T.O.D.A.Y.w.e.s.h.a.l.l.d.o.a.t.e.s.t.o.n.w.e.a.p.o.n.s.o.f.m.a.s.s.d.e.s.t .r.u.c.t.i.o.n.'  
  
Everyone shuddered (except for Rudolf, who, for some uncanny reason, seemed to stare into his eyes without any visible signs of fear, and Freeze, who was busy cleaning out his long nails, and didn't seem to care). It was a particular pleasure for Professor Hermann to terrorize the class with his slow speech and penetrating stare. He picked up the gigantic pile of test papers from his desk and handed them to the first desk, to pass on. As usual, Louis forgot to pass the pile on, Deep was too busy scribbling on the sheets and John was writing the test too early. And as usual, Professor Hermann was scrutinizing Davis, Dennis and Woody curtly.   
  
Davis looked next to him. Louis, his deskmate, was chewing on his pencil as he wrote. He cast his eyes to Woody, who was trying to prevent Deep from scribbling on his sheet, and Dennis, who was frantically attempting to copy his Maths homework. Right at the back of the classroom, Rudolf was not writing, he was picking his nose; and similarly Freeze (who sat next to him) was picking his nails.   
  
'Davis, detention for looking around during a test. Woody, detention for disrupting the class. Dennis, detention for writing non-scientific material in an assessment. Rudolf, detention for lack of concentration. Freeze, detention for practicing hygienic procedures during an exam.' came the slow, spine-chilling voice of Professor Hermann. Freeze looked up at Hermann and fixed him with an icy glare, but no one noticed.   
  
'Shut up, you pilfering ball of snot,' came a voice from the back. Everyone turned around. It was Rudolf. He sat, with his arms crossed and legs high up on the desk. Several giggles issued from the crowd.   
  
'What did you say?' breathed Professor Hermann, as he stepped towards Rudolf, eyes widening with hatred.   
  
'I said, shut up you pilfering ball of snot. You can't just give out detentions like that.' repeated Rudolf, slower, but louder.   
  
'Right, then,' said Professor Hermann, his lip curling, getting hold of Rudolf's arm. Everyone gasped softly in horror. This was exactly what had happened to Firen when he called Hermann a moronic idiot.   
  
'Geroff me,' Rudolf spat, trying to shake off Hermann's grasp, but he was too strong for him. Everyone waited in bated breath...   
  
SNAP.   
  
Swish.   
  
BANG.   
  
The entire audience gasped. There was a streak of pale blue light and a satisfying crack.   
  
'Oh, my...' Jan gasped. Professor Hermann stood like a statue, immobile, with a thin layer of frost on his dull skin , whilst Rudolf breathed shallowly as he stood next to him, clutching his arm.   
  
And no wonder. This time is was even worse that before. '  
  
Look at his arm! It's been broken in half!' said Firen hoarsely. He had also had his arm broken by Hermann, only that time he had only a small fracture in the wrist. Rudolf winced in pain.   
  
'Here, how about this?' said Jan. She strode up to Rudolf and lay a soft hand on his injured arm. Davis had to stifle a laugh as seven pairs of jealous eyes followed Jan. Straight away Rudolf's arm began to mend; it straightened up as Rudolf's painful expression faded into nothingness.   
  
'There,' smiled Jan, 'it might still hurt a bit, and you'll need a cast for about a week, but hey, it's not that bad anymore.'   
  
'Thanks,' murmured Rudolf. He had never before experienced such a sudden movement from the opposite gender.  
  
'Next time I'm getting my arm broken!' yelled Dennis. Now everybody's eyes fell on Professor Hermann's frozen body, arm still outstretched.   
  
'Wh-who did this?' stammered Jan, as she stared into Hermann's cold, lifeless eyes. Everyone immediately scanned their eyes around the class to try to find a possible suspect. Evidently, Hermann had been frozen. But who froze him?   
  
And then it dawned. The entire class' eye's moved to Freeze, who had resumed to sterilizing his nails once more. Of course. Why hadn't they thought of him sooner? That characteristic name, the icy glare, the grey-blue hair, and the sheet white skin...it all fitted perfectly. Besides, they did not know of anyone in their class who could summon ice. Freeze seemed to notice the two dozen eyes on him, for he looked up with a vague smile and asked softly, 'What is it? Is there anything wrong?'   
  
'Did you freeze the Professor, Freeze?' popped a voice from the crowd. The sentence sounded, if anything, ironic.   
  
'Huh?' Freeze winked blankly, but not unsurprised, 'Who, where, what, how, freeze Professor?'   
  
'No, really, we know it's you.' came the voice again. Freeze pointed to Rudolf. 'I think it was him,' he shrugged.   
  
'Don't joke like that, I don't even know about freezing people, how can I possibly do that?' laughed Rudolf defiantly. Freeze shook his head vigorously.   
  
'No, you must have discovered an inner potential of yours,' he grinned, 'I don't even do Martial Arts, it can't be me.'   
  
'Hey guys!' shouted Dennis, 'Know what I discovered?'  
  
'What?' Davis turned around to him.   
  
'IT'S BREAK!' The entire class filed out the classroom, filling the courtyard.   
  
'Hey Rudolf, want to hang out with us at break?'   
  
'Rudolf, can I ask you -'   
  
'Rudy! Come with us!' Rudolf had become an instant celebrity. Everyone was questioning him, inviting him to be their friend. Within an hour or so, he had become the most popular person in Artxe High, apart from Jan; though he didn't look like the one for fame: his airy manner and philisophical questions were quite disturbing. He did not seem to enjoy the attention, however, and instead of accepting the invitation to hang out with the 'cool' guys (eg. Deep Drows and his mates), he calmly asked if he could stay with Firen, Davis, Dennis and Woody.   
  
'Ok, sure.' said Firen awkwardly, as they walked further and further away from the school building. The black tar road was splattered with dark stains that looked oddly like blood. After the school building was out of sight, Davis watched Rudolf for a while, walking around with them, before finally asking, 'Rudolf?'   
  
'Umm?'  
  
'Do you want to come to LF Training to us this afternoon?'   
  
'What is that?'   
  
'Fighting Training. Don't like saying it aloud cuz then it sounds weird.'   
  
'I don't know...'   
  
'Why?' 'Depends on what they teach there.'   
  
'Well, you can choose, like Swordsmanship, Archery, Sorcery, Ninja Training, Element Training (fire and ice), and normal fighting.'   
  
'Can I show you guys something?'   
  
'What?'   
  
'This...' The four teens' eyes sprung wide open as Rudolf, reaching into his robes, pulled out two single-bladed knives.   
  
'Ninja knives.' he said quietly.   
  
'Wow...' gasped Dennis and Woody.   
  
'Impressive!' said a voice behind them. The five of them jumped a foot or higher before turning around and realizing that is was Freeze who said that.   
  
'H-how did you get here?' asked Firen frowning.  
  
'I was here before you guys were here,' said Freeze, 'it's not a sin, is it?'  
  
'Like duh,' muttered Woody in Davis's ear, 'he has no friends. Of course he would be the first one to try and hide from Deep.'   
  
'Bye, just telling Rudolf that his knives suit him,' waved Freeze, disappearing behind some bushes. The flat landscape fell away to great shadowy trees that towered over them as they walked further.   
  
'What a weird guy,' muttered Firen, after Freeze was well out of earshot, 'he is going to be very lonely here...'   
  
'Yeah, well, I don't expect him to be top of the pops with that attitude,' frowned Dennis, 'he just spies on you, pops up and disappears.'   
  
'Hey Rudolf, do you use those knives?' asked Woody.   
  
'Why do you ask?' 'Just wondering...'  
  
'I'm not the best in single-bladed knives, but hey.' said Rudolf simply. They spent the rest of break happily discussing the teachers, LF training and Professor Hermann.   
  
'Him and me, don't mix,' said Rudolf darkly.   
  
'I can see that,' chuckled Dennis, 'he seems to hate you.'   
  
'But he's an idiot in a Hermann suit,' added Davis.   
  
'Know what his surname suggests? He is a her man.' snorted Firen, reaching his lunchbox that was tucked securely under an arm.   
  
'His face, uuugh,' cringed Dennis in disgust.   
  
'Wait a sec.ond!!' said Davis loudly, 'I just thought of something!'   
  
'Wozzat?' Firen munched thickly on a jam sandwich. Davis's eyes lit up with disgust and mirth at the same time.  
  
''The monster in my dream...he looks JUST like him!' he said.   
  
'What monster?' Rudolf inquired, 'Dream? ??????' Davis explained to Rudolf and Firen about the dream he had last night. ''That's what I just realized.'  
  
'J-' Rudolf began, but he stopped himself before he said another word.   
  
'Yes? Yeeeeessssss?' the rest of them asked eagerly.   
  
'Oh, sorry, nothing,' murmured Rudolf apologetically, 'got carried away...I just thought that maybe Davis's dream was real.' There was an uncomfortable silence. Dennis tried breaking it.   
  
'Did anyone here watch Days of our Short Lives last night?' he asked.   
  
'Me,' said Woody.   
  
'Me,' said Firen.   
  
'And me.' Rudolf grinned.   
  
'It was unreal, hey!' babbled Dennis enthusiastically, 'Henry was like, throwing all the bad guys in the air and shooting the arrows at them while they were still in mid air!'   
  
'And did you see the enemys' faces?' laughed Rudolf.   
  
' - and the blood and guts of the guy named Mark splatted onto his friend Bandit! It was so graphic! He might even transmit a disease to him, and then - - '   
  
'TTTRRRRRIIIIINNNNNNNGGGGG!!!!!  
  
As soon as the bell rang, the troop set off in the opposite direction, back to the school.   
  
'Argh, we shouldn't have gone so far!' groaned Firen, 'We need to run if we ever want to stay alive!' Everyone present except Rudolf knew why Firen was so agitated about running. Truth was, he COULDN'T run. Despite that, the gang started to pick up pace.   
  
'Hey, where's Rudolf?' asked Dennis suddenly. Rudolf had vanished out of sight. The looked desperately around while they ran, searching for any signs of him, but all to no avail. 'Hurry!' came a voice far, far in front of them. Davis started to get tired, it was all he could do to keep the stitch in his chest from distracting him.   
  
'Who's that?' panted Woody.   
  
'It's Rudolf, guys! We're nearly there!'  
  
'WHAT?! How can he run so fast?' Dennis said incredulously.   
  
'I don't know and I don't care,' Firen growled bad-temperedly, trailing at the back.   
  
'Dennis! Why have you not completed your homework?' the Maths teacher, Mrs. Ingrahil's shouted, ten minutes later. A thin, mean, Mathematics machine, she could be nice at times, but then turn unexpectedly ruthless if something went wrong.   
  
'I'm sorry ma'am, I did not have time to complete it because I was studying for the Science exam.' Dennis hung his head and mumbled.   
  
Davis, who sat next to him in Maths, elbowed him so hard that it was all he could do to stifle a yell of pain. 'Liar, you didn't do anything last night except watch Days of our Short Lives,' he hissed.   
  
'Dennis, I expect the better of you. How many people here studied for the exam and still did their homework?' the teacher sighed. John's hand shot up like a jet rocket. There was no one else (Davis, Woody and Firen did their homework too, but they didn't study for the exam). All of them had either left out the one or the other. Mrs. Ingrahil suddenly stopped as she approached the spare desk that housed Rudolf and Freeze.   
  
'Ahh,' she smiled benignly, 'I see that we have some new friends here. What are your names?'   
  
'Rudolf Ajnin.'   
  
'Freeze Nezrif.'   
  
'Would you two kindly stand up and introduce yourselves?' asked Mrs. Ingrahil courteously. 'You go first,' Freeze nudged Rudolf's arm.   
  
Rudolf stood up, cleared his throat and looked around. 'I'm Rudolf...'  
  
'Your full name? Any hobbies? Family background? Special talents?' Mrs. Ingrahil tried helping him. Rudolf murmured a 'Thanks, ma-am.' out the corner of his mouth and began to speak fluently.   
  
'My full name is Rudolf Loudwey Ajnin, and I've got an older brother named Rudy. I like Ninja-Training, using single-bladed knives and I can run very fast.' There was the unmistakeable yawn of Deep's, coming from the background.   
  
'Deep Drows!' yelled Mrs. Ingrahil, 'Have some respect for your fellow pupil!' Deep gave no reaction but picked his teeth and yawned again. The teacher turned back to Freeze. Freeze immediately stood up and began with an I-don't really-know what's-going-on voice, 'My name is just plain Freeze Nezrif, I'm John and Jan's cousin, I've got a younger sister named Sedna and I like cleaning out my nails. Happy?' he added, before promptly sitting back down again.   
  
The sound of a cough that sounded oddly like 'Girl.' drifted out from where Deep sat. Freeze looked in the direction of the cough, and located Deep, pulling a rude sign at him. He did nothing but narrow his eyes and give him a spine-chilling dose of 'The Glare'.   
  
Mrs. Ingrahil, taken aback by Freeze's obvious lack of interest, said, rather nervously, 'Well, let's welcome our new friends, and concentrate on our Mathematics...' 


	3. Trouble over vomit

3. So much trouble just for a bottle of brown stuff  
  
'Can you believe it,' muttered Dennis angrily, as they boarded the school bus after school, 'Ninety sums, to be done by tomorrow. What an appropriate way to define 'torture'.'  
  
'So what?' said Davis off-handedly, 'if we don't watch Day of our Short Lives tonight, we might finish it.' Dennis and Woody seemed horrified by the idea.   
  
'What?' said Woody, as though he thought Davis was out of his mind, 'Miss the Most Popular, Most Exciting, Most Wonderful series of all time? No ways! I'd rather watch it and do my homework at the same time.' Dennis whacked him on the back. 'Great idea!'   
  
'Oh, yeah, and don't forget to do your geography and linguistics,' added Firen.   
  
'DAMN!' said Dennis and Woody together.   
  
'Well at least we've got LF Fighting training to look forward to,' said Woody brightly. Davis cheered up slightly after hearing that. He looked back on this day and found it to be extremely pleasing, if not satisfactory. Rudolf was impressive, and he seemed like a very earnest friend. 'I wonder if he's coming? He didn't answer my question earlier on.' he murmured, half to himself. When the bus stopped at Davis's house, the three brothers collected their bags and got ready to get off.   
  
'Firen, Rudolf! Want to stay at our house for the time being? We can go together to LF training.' asked Davis loudly.   
  
'I'll come,' said Firen, picking up his blue rucksack, 'hold on a second...'   
  
'Sure,' said Rudolf in a low tone, as he collected his bag and glided out with them. The bus whooshed away, leaving a trail of foul-smelling smoke behind it. They walked the footpath of the ill-kept garden, and when they arrived at the door, Davis unlocked it to let them in. Rudolf bowed and glided in slowly.   
  
'Checks how he moves...' whispered Firen, as they entered the house.   
  
'Here, wanna go sit in my room?' said Davis, directing them to the room that was the furthest down the corridor.   
  
'Hey, do you guys want anything to drink?' Dennis asked.   
  
'What is there to drink?' Firen shrugged. Dennis looked up in the air and attempted to recall the types of beverages they had in the house.   
  
'Er..................' he blinked hard, 'er.........whoops,' he smiled, evidently embarrassed, 'haven't got any.'   
  
'I'll go buy some,' Davis immediately jumped up, grabbing his money bag, 'what do you guys want?'   
  
'Anything,' said Rudolf, looking over at Firen.   
  
'Cola,' he grinned.   
  
'Ok then,' Davis's voice faded away as he shot out the room, 'byeeeeee!'   
  
Today is a weird day, thought Davis, as he started out the front door. He jogged for a while, looking around at the neighbouring landscape. He suddenly stopped, lapsed into silence, and sank deeply into thought.   
  
Why was Herman always so mean?   
  
What planet does Rudolf come from?   
  
Why does Freeze like cleaning out his nails?   
  
What's so interesting about Days of Our Short Lives?   
  
What makes Jan so attractive?   
  
What --   
  
'Watch where you're going, scumbag!' Davis drifted out of his thoughts as he bounced off a tall, freakishly sized man, carrying a sword. He looked up.   
  
'DEEP?!' he gasped. His knees felt weak as he tried to escape.   
  
'Hold it!' Deep bellowed, pinching the back of his neck as he turned around.   
  
'Wh-what do you want?' Davis asked weakly. Deep's eyes scanned Davis for a while before his eyes fell on the money bag he was holding.   
  
'How much money have you got in here?' he demanded, snatching it out of Davis's hand and unclasping it. The bag opened with a soft click.   
  
'J-just enough to buy a 2litre cola,' answered Davis.   
  
'Well, now it's MINE.' said Deep, as he pocketed it. Davis frowned.   
  
'Give it back,' he said quietly. Deep looked at him nastily.   
  
'Listen, Ardregit, what's your is mine, and what mine is mine, so just shut up and #$% off.'   
  
'It's mine.' Davis said defiantly. For a second Deep was a bit lost for words. But he immediately hitched a grin and sneered, 'Come get it, then.'   
  
Davis, angered by Deep's arrogance, tried to grab it from Deep, despite himself knowing that his skill was way above his.   
  
'Wahahahaha!!! Look! What an idiot!' Deep roared with laughter. Davis's face got so hot that one could fry an egg on it. He looked hard at Deep.   
  
'That's not funny.' he said calmly, shaking with suppressed anger. Deep pulled out his sword.   
  
'What did you say?' he asked, almost evilly, eyes gradually narrowing. Davis suddenly felt a bout of uncontrollable anger rising up in his chest, like a vat of hot puke.   
  
'I, said, THAT'S NOT FUNNY!!!!!' Davis yelled, out of control, as he ran up front and punched Deep so hard that he flew up, along with Deep's bulky body. He felt a gentle warm sensation in his fist along with a soft blue light, as his hand lifted him up. He made a full turn, knocking Deep with his elbow in mid-air, before settling back on the ground. His opponent's sword fell back to earth with a clatter and a sudden blade of white light. Deep was unconscious, lying in a pool of dark crimson blood and half- digested lunch that started spilling across the road. He pecked up the open purse from the ground. Davis was not sure if Deep had some life-threatening disease that could be transmitted via blood. But then he thought of the fact that a person with Deep's personality had a very slim chance of healthy blood, let alone vomit.   
  
So, slightly nauseous, Davis walked away from the crime scene edgily and walked into the cafe. That's funny, he mused. How did I manage that punch? I totally suck at fighting. I can't even beat my younger brothers. How did that happen?   
  
'Fluke,' he said out aloud, as he picked up a 2liter coke bottle and paid for it at the counter. The whirring of the till drilled into his ears, and it was a long while before he realized that the nudging of his arm was a gesture to give his change back. 'Thanks...' Davis started on his way home.   
  
When he got to the front door, he suddenly realized that his keys were not in his money bag.   
  
'Oh, no!' he exclaimed, starting to sprint back to the cafe. He gasped, out of breath as the wind rushed past his ears and the scenery vanished in a beam of colour behind him. SCREECH. Davis's leather shoes screeched like tires as he made an abrupt stop near the puddle of blood. Deep was not there.   
  
'Curse him,' breathed Davis venomously under his breath, 'he's got my keys.' He started on his way home once again, folding his arms and pressing them so tightly to his chest that it hurt. Loathing such as he hadn't felt in days consumed him, misting his vision. 'Curse him,' was all he could muster, 'he's taken my keys. Curse him. Curse him. Curse him.'   
  
'What are you, cursing me?' came Woody's voice. Davis had, without himself knowing, returned to his house and pressed the door bell. His head snapped up. Woody was covered in sweat, he wiped it off with a quick swish and repeated, 'Are you cursing me?'  
  
'I'm cursing Deep, you klutz.' hissed Davis angrily. Woody's expression remained neutral as he reached into one of his many shirt pockets and pulled out a bunch of tinkling silver objects.   
  
'Because of this?' he smiled. Davis laughed.   
  
'How did you manage to get that?' he enquired, as they started into the house.   
  
'Easy,' said Woody, now attempting to dry his arms, 'we were practicing.'   
  
''Practicing'?' Davis asked, gradually grinning. 'Yep,' winked Woody, 'we showed off our fighting skills, to get ready for practice. I used Teleport To Friend, thinking of teleporting to you, but all I found was a bunch of keys and a pool of unidentified spewed objects.'  
  
'Steak,' said Davis gloomily, 'Deep had steak for lunch.'   
  
'Did you do that?'   
  
'Yes, but...' They changed direction towards the end of the wide passage, opening a door that lead to an open courtyard laid with cement.   
  
'Uh oh,' muttered Davis, 'from what I can see we've just walked into an exciting battle featuring Dennis and Firen.'  
  
'This should be interesting,' said Woody. Rudolf was standing aside, watching them.   
  
'The first movement of the 'Dance of Flames',' Firen was yelling, 'Fire ball!' He lashed out three super-fast, super hot balls of unquenchable flames that flew directly to Dennis.   
  
'Ha!' Dennis shouted, as he countered the fire balls with a rapid series of leg movements that sent the hot spheres reeling aside, 'First three movements of 'Thousand Strafes', 'Unity', 'Obscurity?,? Obliteration'!!'   
  
'Clever move,' complimented Firen clapping his hands. But his friendly expression faded to that of a furrowed frown, 'but can you escape from the second movement, 'Melting Blaze?'' after he had finished this sentence, everyone made and exclamation of surprise. Flames leapt up from Firen's body, engulfing his entire torso, as he started to run, unaffected by the fire. Dennis collected his thoughts as Firen's smoking form came up front, and lightly dashed aside.   
  
'Halt!' bellowed Firen. The flames that covered his body a moment ago extinguished. His expression was that of mixed appreciation and wonder.   
  
'You haven't seen me attack yet, have you?' Dennis asked, 'Whirlwind Kick, triple strength!'   
  
It was spectacular. Dennis leapt up, and started to turn his body, with his leg out, suspended in the air.   
  
'Dance of Flames third movement, 'Infernal Hell!' cried Firen, as he blew through his hand, sending out a torrent of fire that hovered between him and Dennis. Dennis ducked, then halted.   
  
'Let's stop here,' he said, dusting off his slightly singed sleeveless jacket.   
  
'Why? I haven't shown my true abilities yet!' protested Firen.   
  
'And I don't want to see your true abilities,' laughed Dennis, 'You'll most probably torch the entire house.' Firen suddenly noticed Davis and Woody standing by the entrance. Finally, thought Davis.   
  
'Hey, you're back,' he grinned. He was practically drenched in sweat, dripping from his dark blonde hair to his shoulders. He saw the bottle of coke in Davis's hand.   
  
'Hey cool! You got coke! Let have some!' 'Er...' Davis paused slightly at Firen's lack of manners. Rudolf, who had been silent most of the time, said,   
  
'Uhhhm...where's Woody?'   
  
'Here,' said a voice, 'I've got cups.'   
  
'Hey, hang on!' said Dennis suddenly, grabbing the bottle form Davis and studying the label.   
  
'What is it?' snapped Davis, slightly annoyed.   
  
'OH MY GOSH, I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!!!' yelled Dennis, overjoyed. He ripped the label off with a smooth tearing motion and held the label up for all to see, 'IT'S A COMPETITION ENTRY FORM FOR HENRY REHCRA TO VISIT YOUR SCHOOL FOR A DAY!!!!!!!!! IT'S CLOSING TOMORROW, WHEN THEY WILL BE ANNOUNCING THE WINNER!!'   
  
'Fill it in, Fill it in!' urged Firen, Rudolf and Woody at the same time. Woody whipped a pen out from his shirt pocket and handed it to Dennis. Dennis immediately grabbed the pen and scrawled eagerly on the piece of paper.   
  
'Done!' he lifted his arms up as if he had crossed the finish line at a day-long marathon. Woody immediately wrenched it out of his grip and disappeared with a flash. Moments later he reappeared in the middle of the group.   
  
'Posted,' he announced.   
  
'It's so good to be able to Teleport...' Everyone except Davis quivered with impatience.   
  
'I can't wait!' said Rudolf enthusiastically. They poured the cola into the cups and sat down on the cement, sipping it thoughtfully.   
  
'My hands itch,' said Davis, looking hard at Rudolf. Woody pulled out a tube of greenish-yellow paste from one of his pockets (they seem to contain everything) and thrust it into Davis's lap.   
  
'Try this,' he suggested, chuckling as he handed it to Davis, 'it soothes itching, prevents mosquito bites and reduces swelling.'   
  
'No, fool, my hands are itching to fight.' Davis laughed loudly, pushing Woody.   
  
'So who are you going to fight?' asked Woody, 'Firen, Dennis and I have went.'   
  
'Who did you go against?' said Davis, furrowing his thick brown eyebrows.   
  
'Dennis, we had a Qi competition.' 'So who won?'   
  
'Tie...'   
  
'I see Rudolf has not fought,' smirked Woody, eyeing Rudolf. Rudolf looked back at him with a flat expression.  
  
'I have not,' he retorted, 'and what can you do about it?' Woody shrugged and turned his gaze to Davis. He doesn't seem very eager, thought Davis, as he glanced at Rudolf. Rudolf shook his head.   
  
'Well anyways,' continued Davis excitedly, 'can I show you guys this really cool, new move I learnt?'   
  
'Sure,' said Firen, 'show us!'   
  
Davis set down his cup of coke and went to stand in the middle of the courtyard. He took a deep breath. He could see everyone staring at him, transfixed.   
  
'Okay,' he told himself, 'here goes...' Clenching his fist, he tried to remember how he did that punch that had knocked out Deep so badly. Well, he thought, I jumped in the air, made a full turn, and then came back to the ground. Let's give it a go. He tried, but failed. Try as he might, he couldn't jump as high as he did earlier on. What was worse, he looked stupid. He heard sniggering and turned around. The whole group was trying not to laugh. Firen was pinching his nose hard, trying to keep his cool, but achieved nothing but a spectacular snort that sent the entire group cracking up like a nut when you step on it.   
  
'I don't know,' said Davis, embarrassed, 'I don't know how I did it...'   
  
BARP, BARP!!!! The gang suddenly heard a loud sound that sounded extremely rude.   
  
'DAVIS!' said Dennis in mock outrage, accidentally knocking over his empty cup, 'That's disgusting! Don't fart like that!'   
  
'Shut up, Dennis, it's the bus,' said Woody, as he stood up, grabbed the back of Dennis's collar and started to drag him outside, and kicked over a good few cups (cola included) which fell and splashed brown liquid everywhere. The others followed, chuckling. When they boarded the half-empty bus, the seated themselves at the back, which was their usual haunt. They looked around, only Deep, John, Rudolf, Firen, Dennis, Woody, Davis, Jan and Louis were present.   
  
'Small class today, isn't it?' commented Rudolf, as he looked around. 'Rudolf,' corrected Dennis, 'It's always been like that.' 'No,' came Dennis's voice, 'Volcan is not here, Greeny is not here, and neither is Ice.' 'Dennis, what is it about you that is always so obsessed with those three (A/N: They come later, but I plan to make then well-rounded and non Sue)?' Davis asked, with half a grin.   
  
'And anyway, the others come by car, or by some other stupid means of transport.' Woody looked at John, stifled a exclamation of mirth, then leaned over to Rudolf with and amused expression and added, in an undertone, 'John tried coming by an Energy Disk.'   
  
'What's that?' Rudolf looked as though he got the joke, but didn't know what an Energy Disk was.   
  
'Well, it's like an Energy Blast (see below), but instead it's flat and hard and flies around, knocking enemies unconscious.'  
  
'Aaaah, so what happened?'   
  
'The thing went out of control and cut his cape in half.' Firen extended his bottom lip in a disapproving sort of way as the bus stopped in front of Artxe High, the venue used to train aspiring young fighters in the afternoon. 


	4. Ultimate offering

4. The sacrificial lamb  
  
A/N: Yes, I'm back...again. With my unique storyline. Okay, so it contains that battling Julian shit, but...  
  
Also, the Julian and Firzen battle scene was inspired by a story I read, but not quite.  
  
'Alright,' said Davis, Dennis and Woody's master, after they had said goodbye to Firen and Rudolf and went into their practice field, out in the open, 'now, yesterday we had just mastered the art of the Energy Blast (Dennis cleared his throat loudly in an objecting sort of way, fixing his eyes on Davis). Who can demonstrate?'   
  
The master looked somewhat like the old wise-men that one sees in China: bald, snowy-haired, with a long, glistening, luxurious beard. Even Dennis questioned himself whether he would be fond of a beard like that when he became old.   
  
'Me!' said Dennis excitedly, jumping up and down and flapping his arms loosely in the air, 'Pick me, Master, MEEEEE!!'   
  
His lone voice echoed weirdly over the students' heads. The rest of the class eyed him nervously and slowly edged away, apparently not impressed. The Master picked the raised mole on his chin and surveyed the class closely, gradually turning his gaze to each student, before finally deciding, 'Davis, come and show me your Energy Blast.'   
  
Davis hesitated as he felt the uncomfortable feeling of hundreds of eyes upon him as he sifted sideways through the crowd and stood his place in front of the lot. He took a deep breath and stood with his legs apart, with his arms stretched out in front of him; his right hand was placed on top and his left hand underneath. Slowly moving his hands around in circles as though rubbing the sir, his breath gradually became shallow as he felt the Energy in his body being sucked into the small air flow he was creating with his rotating movements. The air current that swam between his left and right hand gradually solidified into a misty ball of blue light.   
  
He started to concentrate on one of the trees far behind the crowd, and with a swift flick of his hands, sent the ball of Energy hurtling at the plant with surprising speed, the people underneath it ducked as it soared over their heads and hit one of the trees smack-bang in the middle.   
  
Turning their heads, the entire class gave a vehement exclamation; the tree had collapsed on the spot!   
  
The short silence was broken by Woody, who was yelling, 'Good on you, Daves!' His voice seemed to stir up the other kids, who in turn all began to shout unanimously, 'Good on you, Ardregit!' But Davis did not seem elated, if anything, he seemed thoroughly disappointed.   
  
When the fellow students had desisted, he announced, wearily, 'I was actually aiming for the other tree...' The faces fell.  
  
'Wow,' gasped Davis happily, after the bus had dropped them off at their house and they had wave goodbye to Firen and Rudolf, 'Nothing like a fair bit of fighting to get the blood flowing.'   
  
'I'm tired,' yawned Dennis, as he swagged heavily through the front doors, 'I'm going to sleep.'   
  
'What about your homework?' asked Woody, as all three of them started returning to their rooms.   
  
'To hell with it,' shrugged Dennis. 'Agree.'   
  
Davis lay in bed after cleaning himself and brushing his teeth. Whew, he thought, today was tiring. He felt the lurking worry of the unfinished homework in the pit of his stomach, but squashed it. He felt extremely prophetic, when he recalled himself thinking that fighting would drive the disturbing thoughts out his head, but now that he thought of it, it all came flooding back to him, overwhelming him...he shuddered, sincerely hoping that he would not dream of the same thing again........  
  
His worries were unfounded. As he fell deep into sleep, a clear, crystal- sharp image appeared before him......  
  
Tiny snowflakes floated lightly from the sky, drifting across the silver- white landscape, forming a sharp contrast with the pools of deep red, on the ground.  
  
A green-haired man stood rooted to the ground, trying to cover up the wounds on his body that were the source of the spilling blood. He was protecting a pair of young twins underneath his long, wide, dark grey cape, which flapped wildly in the wind.   
  
His handsome features seemed perhaps a little weary, but his sharp red eyes were fixed unblinkingly on the man opposite him who made him feel intimidated by his very presence.   
  
Not an inch of that man's body was clear of armour, even his face, which shone with a sea-blue glare that was as bright as his red eyes.   
  
Davis, who was witnessing the event, felt a sharp pain in his temples as he remembered the same face from the previous dream...   
  
'You're procrastinating, Firzen.' The voice seemed to come out the armour- clad man; it did not contain expression, all that could be heard was a dull, flat, cruel monotone; it left one wondering whether or not he was a machine.   
  
Firzen stepped back wearily, and when he finally regained himself, his voice was that of fear and uncertainty. 'J...Julian...it's you!' he gasped softly. His warm breath was expelled like a haze of white mist, lingering in the air.   
  
'Ha!' the man named Julian sneered, 'Who else would it be?' he paused, and seemed to savour this taste of malevolence.   
  
'You've been hiding,' he continued coolly, gradually moving towards Firzen, who quivered with terror and staggered a few paces back, 'Hiding from your responsibility! We both have a part in that...'   
  
'That...' Firzen started, but shook his head; he said no more. Julian already knew half of what he was thinking, but he did not care, he started gathering Qi, to prepare for the final battle.....   
  
'You,' he spat shakily, as he prepared for the attack, 'are nothing but a cowardly pilfering good for nothing hobo who doesn't care about anything but your own skin. Soul Blast!' And he administered the fatal blow.   
  
Firzen ducked, exhausted, and luckily managed to escape from that deadly strike, which, instead of going straight in his face (which was where it was intended to land), slammed into the rocky, raised edge of a steep cliff. The blood drained out of Firzen's face in an instant, leaving him looking deathly pale, so pale that if he had to land an acting role for a dead person, he would not need make-up. But he was not to blame, for anyone's heart would quail, should they have seen this sight.   
  
The steady earth suddenly shuddered.   
  
Then, that entire raised part of the cliff that had been administered the punch crumbled with a deafening BANG. What if Firzen had received the Uppercut? He did not want to think of the consequences; he couldn't. He wondered at Julian rapid ascent to power, and his great, but not majestic, fall.   
  
'Now,' mocked Julian, 'now will you not submit, when you have seen my great, infallible, power?' his voice took a terrible ring.   
  
'I will not,' Firzen replied placidly, 'and if my life is forfeit, so be it.'   
  
Still sheltered under his wonderfully large cape, one of the little boys below it stuck his deep golden head out inquisitively and exclaimed, 'Father!' In the flying rocks and dust, a smoky silhouette could be seen, unmoved by the scene. It was Julian, preparing for a second blow.   
  
'Wahahahahahaha...This is the way it is! It's destiny.......' Firzen jerked his bushy green head back and laughed crazily. But the laughter did not contain mirth; instead it carried a hint of cold loneliness, of despair... ...the sound echoed down the valley as the smoke cleared away.   
  
'Even you admit it,' said Julian softly, 'if that is so, let us battle, and you can prove yourself.....prove that you're a witless little WORM.' he breathed the last word especially hard, the went on, 'I won't let you die like a hero, if that's what your children think.'   
  
'Could I have a last word with them?' Firzen said, with a voice barely more than a whisper, but grim with determination.   
  
'Of course,' chuckled Julian harshly, 'Say what you want to say. I'm not in a hurry.' Firzen nodded slightly, then turned around, stooped down and told the golden haired boy with a low voice:   
  
'Firen...' he croaked, trembling with sadness, 'you're a big boy now, and you need to know how to take care of yourself, understand?' Firen nodded. He seemed young, no older than three, but the determination in his eyes seemed more mature than half of the older boys around. 'Also, look after Freeze for me...' He turned to the younger of the twins, who looked up uncertainly. Firzen smiled at the blue spiky hair that he had inherited from him, and gently tousled his hair.   
  
'The last thing I want to say to you is...I'm sorry.' he lowered his head and murmured.   
  
'Father?' Firen squeaked. The next thing that Firzen did, even Julian could not understand. Quick as a flash, pushed the boys' backs. Frost laced their features immediately...and they stopped moving. Then, grim with determination, he seized the pair of twins by the scruff of their necks and chucked them over the cliff. 'Father!' came the boys' anguished yells, as they fell.   
  
'Now,' said Firzen serenely, turning back to Julian, 'We can battle.'   
  
'Battle?' scoffed Julian. 'It has been fought. Your soul will depart from your body very soon...'  
  
As though in answer to this, Firzen ducked. Fresh, lucid red dyed the brilliant snow with the colour of a dancer's lipstick. In that moment, the dark qi around him materialised, and with a jerk, he fell...   
  
'Julian...' came the last, feeble sentence from the huddle, 'I'll never let you get your wish....NEVER!' And with that, he ceased to breathe.  
  
'Hahaha!!!!!!!' bellowed Julian, after Firzen's death, 'Fool! Eeeediot! Do you honestly suppose that you can defy me by giving your life in place of your sons? I have other means of claiming them!! MOOHOOHOOHAHAHAHAHAHA MOOOOHHHHOOOOOHHHHHOOOHHHHHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!'   
  
Then came a familiar, sad tune, played with violins. But it didn't seem as though it fitted. Davis drifted out of sleep, but the music carried on; it seemed to waft from the lounge. D  
  
avis felt a little sad for the two twins that had been flung over the cliff. But deep inside, he had a feeling that they did not die. Firen...Freeze....he knew these names. And the pair of young twins in his reverie looked like them. Younger, of course, but definitely alike. He coasted uneasily back to sleep, but came out unpleasantly when he heard a loud, particularly nasty sound that was part of the tune. He decided to investigate. Davis tiptoed out his room, through the corridor. A light was glowing at the end, no doubt the living room light. Davis stepped closer. He nearly fainted. Dennis was sitting in front of the television, shoving popcorn in his mouth and writing his homework. But that was not the reason.  
  
He was watching Days of Our Short Lives.  
  
TBC  
  
Constructive criticism the most welcome, flattery comes next, flames that don't make sense hit the shitpile. 


	5. A willing victim of kidnapping

'Dennis, you're up so late!' commented Davis, surprised. Dennis made no reply but carried on flicking pieces of popcorn in the air and attempted to catch them with his mouth.

'So what?' said Dennis, as if it were no big deal. He offered some popcorn to Davis, who accepted it and took a whole handful as he sat down on one of the splitting, sticky couches. He turned his head towards the lounge clock and realized, with a pang, that it was already ten-to-three in the morning. He shivered from the cold. It was winter, but they did not have a fireplace or a heater.

'Dennis!' he gasped incredulously, eyes widening in amazement, 'How can you stay up so late?'

'Easy,' said Dennis simply, 'they're doing the draw for Henry Rehcra at precisely three o' clock.'

'Oh, right!' nodded Davis, with a sudden burst of understanding, 'No wonder! Normally you're the first to get called and the last to wake up.'

'If Woody hadn't been in the Junior Military earlier on, I'd be the early bird.' growled Dennis bad temperedly. Realizing that he had touched the wrong nerve, Davis immediately changed the subject. "What would you do if we won?" he asked, with half a grin.

Dennis's eyes lighted up. "I'd freak out! Henry is the coolest TV star around! I'd be the happiest person on Earth!"

"What's on air right now?" Davis tried to make sense of the blurry shapes of the television by blinking his crusty eyes.

'Sound track from Days of our Short Lives. Henry and some other Ira girl plays it.' said Dennis, fixing his eyes once again on the television. Davis did not know if it was just the fact that he knew the people were performing, but the hazy mush of colour started to solidify into human shapes. He absent-mindedly pulled out the fiber fluff from one of the fissures in the sofa.

'Dennis, this sucks.' Davis finally managed to say the three words that could accurately describe his feelings at the moment.

'Shhhh!' Judging by the way Dennis was leaning towards the tiny box, it was evidently the time for the draw of fate (at least for him).

'Ladies and Gentlemen! We are now about to draw tonight's lucky entry from the Short-Lived box!' the screen suddenly faded into the image of a stage, with a large, clear plastic globe, mounted on a flat platform-like gadget, containing what seemed like thousands of entries in the middle. A perhaps too well built man with ruddy, rosy cheeks stepped generously onto it.

'Used car salesman smile,' muttered Davis out the corner of his mouth, commenting on the man's gallant expression.

'Now, for the moment you've all been waiting for, tonight, live, Days of Our Short Lives!' the presenter announced. The platform made a whirring noise, and the great plastic globe started to spin. The audience's attention was, however, immediately diverted back to the presenter, who, after clearing his throat loudly, said again, 'Let's welcome our special guest of the night, Henry's lovely co-star, Ira Noisuf!' After these words, the sound of hasty footprints could be heard, gradually becoming louder, before an unnaturally tall girl entered the stage. The first thing that captured everybody's attention was her zigzagged yellow locks that hung halfway to her waist. She was dressed entirely in black, her bright red t-shirt could be seen hanging out of the bottom of her jacket. A quick scan with the naked eye proved her to be make-upless. She smiled nervously, and showed a row of uneven, milk white teeth, but everyone was too mesmerized by her entire appearance to care.

'She is beautiful, isn't she?' said Dennis in an oddly husky voice, turning to Davis reluctantly.

'I think Jan looks better,' said Davis, after studying Ira for a considerable amount of time, 'but you really shouldn't judge a book by it's cover...'

'Whatever,' snapped Dennis impatiently, before continuing to stare unmercifully at Ira. He is hopeless, Davis thought, as he shook his head. Him and Woody, they're both nutters. Jan, he could understand their infatuation. But Ira? They didn't even know her personality.

'So how do you feel today, Ira?' asked the presenter, flashing a smile of pure gold and leaning the microphone towards her.

'Tired!' she said quickly, 'I'd like to see you try sleeping for an hour before coming on stage.'

'Oh, come on!' said Davis, through gritted teeth, 'just cut the crap and start the draw!' he was appalled at how this show seemed like just another cheap, wheel-spinning gimmick. As if the two people on the stage could hear him, the presenter said, 'Okay, now, Ira, when the globe stops spinning, I want you to close your eyes, look away and draw a special entry from the globe.'

'Ok...' Ira hesitated, then reached into it and pulled out a red strip of plastic paper the seemed to be written in...

'Gold ink!' whispered Dennis breathlessly, with a jolt of panic.

'Dennis, why-?' Davis was totally baffled. So what if it was golden ink?

'And the winner is ---- Louis Artxe from Artxe High! Congratulations!' said Ira, reading off the small, jagged entry, 'Henry Rehcra will visit your school on the 17 July!'

Davis opened his eyes wide so that he was sure that his eyes were not malfunctioning. His mouth fell open and swung limply. Of course it would be Louis. He was the only person he knew of that possessed a pen that contained gold ink (made of REAL gold, mind you). The only thing that brought him back to Earth was the sudden gagging noise next to him. He quickly swallowed the blob of spit that was hanging dangerously on the edge of his bottom lip and found Dennis, gagging on a piece of popcorn.

'H-e-l-p!' he pleaded, clutching at his throat, trying to stop the merciless cheese-and-chive popcorn from cutting his life short.

'Dennis, you moron,' he said apprehensively, whacking his brother's back hard. Dennis gave an almighty belching sound and the plug of white junk food soared out of his open mouth, hit the television screen and stayed there with a sickening THWACK.

Dennis slumped forward weakly and gasped for breath.

'L-Louis...'

Davis tried to cheer him up. 'Come on, at least he is going to Artxe High!' he reasoned.

'Louis is going to get all the attention,' said Dennis, switching off the television and getting up, 'I wish that it could have been somebody else.' He left wordlessly, switching off the light as he went, submerging Davis in total darkness.

Try as he might, Davis could not forget his dream about Firen and Freeze. He sat there in the dark, pondering, trying to make sense of this, even though he doubted whether the dream was real or not. How can Firen and Freeze be brothers if they don't even know each other? That was one thing. And Freeze has a sister. Surely if she existed, she would be with the twins? 'Oh, whatever.' Davis yawned, stretching himself on the lumpy sofa and curling up, 'I'll sleep right here.'

* * *

'Oi Dennis!' Woody waved his hand energetically in front of Dennis's face after they had got into the bus. Louis Artxe was surrounded by a lot of people, which was quite abnormal considering his lack of friends. They were there, no doubt, to discuss the coming of Henry.

'Go away!' yelled Dennis angrily, as he caught Woody's hand with surprising speed and twisted it aggressively.

'Ow!' winced Woody, stepping on Dennis's foot as though it was a brake. Dennis let go of Woody's hand and instead clutched his own foot and started twisting it.

'He's very upset cuz he didn't win the draw,' said Davis quietly.

'How do you know that?' asked Woody automatically. 'I woke up because stupid Dennis was playing the soundtrack from Days of Our Short Lives so damn loudly.'

By now the bus was starting to tilt squeakily sideways - there were too many people on Louis's side. About the only person besides Davis, Dennis, and Woody that was not standing by Louis was Freeze. He sat in the corner and leaned on the back of the seat in front of him, with an "I'm happy for you, Louis" smile on his face, and left it to that. Although Woody was not that happy about Louis winning the draw, he did not take it as hard as Dennis, who positively moped while repeating an alphabet of insults.

'Louis, you are an ass, Louis, you are a butt, Louis, you are a...' Louis seemed to be enjoying all the attention; now and then he extended his neck upwards and threw dirty but smug looks at the brothers, as though saying, 'You guys suck'. Had Dennis seen this, he would have immediately gotten up and beaten Louis senseless, but he was too busy burying his head in his hands and running them through his loose black hair to care.

'Hey Dennis, we're here.' said Davis impatiently, shaking Dennis's shoulder. Dennis did not move.

'Playing dead,' muttered Woody, 'it doesn't work on me.' Dennis continued to sulk, unmoved. His lips were moving soundlessly, and perhaps for the better: the words, had they been spoken out aloud, would have been quite profane.

'Well,' said Davis, standing up and gesturing to Woody, 'I guess we'd better go.' He walked to the doorway of the bus with Woody, pretending to exit. Balancing on the edge of a step, he stood on his toes to see over the buzzing crowd and checked behind him to see if Dennis was following.

Unfortunately, he wasn't. He was the only one left on the seats besides the driver, the rest had all clogged up by the doorway.

'Whoa!' Davis suddenly lunged forwards as he felt the wind been knocked out of his lungs. A pair of mean fists pushed him over, and he staggered over the edge of the step, landing outside the bus on the tar and grazing his face. He broke out in uncontrollable shivers as the wind flailed against his body.

'Out of my way, you glasses of piddle!' It was Deep, pushing his way past the cluster of students and thumping many of them off their feet. Davis closed his eyes, face down on the tarmac, and breathed in deeply, trying to calm the wave of panic that had risen in his stomach at the stinging sensation, but it was soon unceremoniously interrupted by another heavy object, significantly a body, landing on top of him.

'Owch!' Davis struggled to his feet, throwing the person off his back.

'Davis!' whimpered the owner of the landing body shakily, 'the-the bus drove away with Dennis still on it!'

'What!' Davis felt himself been dragged along on his knees as Woody sped after the fast-disappearing bus. The gap between the two bodies and the speedy bus grew steadily larger, until -

'He's gone!' strained Woody desperately, stopping, 'what do we do now?'

Curiously enough, Davis seemed sad, but not disturbed by the fact that his youngest brother had just been driven away on a school bus.

'He's smart enough to know how to get home, Woody, I know he is,' he said quietly, doing a terrible job of trying to hide his despair. Through the distance, they could see Firen and Rudolf heading towards them, both with sympathetic expressions on their faces. Rudolf, who was relatively at ease with his injured arm the previous day, now seemed strained as he held his left arm with his right hand. The brothers did not make any attempt to greet them, they were too consumed with grief to overcome the temporary numbness that was upon them. Their friends stopped, not too far away, and Rudolf bit his lip as he turned, with a helpless expression, to Firen, before gesturing for them to carry on walking. The chilly morning air brought chills down their spines, and Firen brought his arms around himself; he was not wearing his school blazer. They could see Davis and Woody, standing motionless on the pavement, shrouded by a cloak of thick mist.

'What's the matter?' asked Firen, although he knew what it was. He could not find anything else to say.

'Dennis...leave...drive...bus...away...' Woody managed morosely.

'Why?' said Rudolf curiously, in his normal elegant manner.

'He didn't win the draw...so he...didn't get off the bus...then Deep forced us out...' said Davis haltingly, swallowing hard. Firen and Rudolf gasped.

* * *

PS: I'm well aware that this chapter is saturated with adverbs...but I wrote it when I was eleven, and I'm too lazy to edit it :P. All comments cherished! 


	6. Mrs Letraviel's tale

He closed his eyes as he sat down next to John, who was radiating with a sort of sickening cheerfulness. The walls were lined with posters of ancient heroes, dates of battles, all faded and peeling off the walls. He waited for everyone to sit down, them collapsed on his arms.

'Hey Firen, wozzup?' John nudged him gently and asked.

'The price of eggs in China.' came the miserable voice from underneath. All sorts of dark and unpleasant thoughts sped through his already aching head. He'd have to spend the rest of his time with Davis and Woody, who, according to his opinion, were extremely bland. John, sensing something wrong, shook his head disbelievingly as he picked off his dusty spectacles and polished them. Firen continued to mope.

'Good morning class!' the door was thrown open and a short, stout woman who was hooded in blue so her face was invisible lumbered into the room.

'Good morning Mrs. Letraviel.' was the murmur that came from the class. No one, not even Deep, disliked her History classes. Her descriptions of ancient battles and tribes were vivid and colourful, she did not pick anything drab and boring to teach, and best of all, she did not give them homework. She glanced around, rubbing her hands together with apparent glee and immediately spotted Rudolf and Freeze, sitting, by default, together in the spare desk.

'Hello,' she strode up to them, smiling in a friendly manner (though they could not see it), 'If I am not mistaken, you two are new here, aren't you?' They both nodded vaguely, Freeze because he always seemed vague, and Rudolf because he felt a bit queasy at being unable to see her face.

'Ahh...Freeze...the first Frostmaster this school has seen in many years,' Mrs. Letraviel continued to smile. At the word "Frostmaster", the class started, and Rudolf gave him a penetrating sort of look, but Freeze soon stopped them by muttering slowly, 'Yeah, the first disgrace of a Frostmaster. I am no good.'

The teacher did not seem perplexed at these words, but instead continued benignly, 'And...dear me. Rudolf...I believe you gave Mr. Hermann a pretty hard time, didn't you?' Rudolf did not respond, but grabbed his half-healed limb convulsively and sat, pupils contracting, breathing hard. When he had finally recovered a bit, Mrs. Letraviel said, worried, 'Rudolf, your arm...it's poisoned. Professor Hermann...he must have injected poison into it while he broke it.'

The rest of the students all clamoured to see him, but Mrs. Letraviel extended a heavily sleeved arm and held them back. She produced a long staff-like wand, not different to John's, from her belt, and tapped Rudolf three times. Instantaneously, he was engulfed in an envelope of magenta mist, and when it disappeared, he was smiling.

'I just drew the poison out,' the teacher assured, 'you don't have to worry about it anymore. I can hardly assume that this is your fault.' Firen, who was listening somewhat absent-mindedly, breathed out his nose in a derisive way, thinking that unless Mrs. Letraviel had some real solid evidence, it was indeed very difficult to show that Rudolf's was innocent. He saw John looking across the room at Jan and grinning; they both knew how to do what Mrs. Letraviel had just done, since all three of them were Sorcerers. When he looked back at the lecturer moments later though, he could see that the shadow in the center of the hood was even darker, as she looked abnormally grave as she requested for the absentees.

'Wesley!'

'Rochelle!'

'Cyan!'

'DENNIS!' her eyes suddenly widened in dismay as Woody uttered the last name that she wanted to hear.

'Why, whatever happened to him?' she queried breathlessly.

'He was driven away on the bus, ma'am,' answered Davis defiantly.

She looked horrified. Standing back at the front of the classroom, she began, voice grave and sinister, 'There is something about your Science teacher that could threaten the entire human race. If I told you, I would surely die.'

Don't tell us then, shrugged Firen silently to himself. He kept peering sideways at Davis and Woody: both seemed like the world was going to end. Louis, who was sitting in an empty desk since Dennis was not there, stuck his fingers into his ears. Mrs. Letraviel raised his voice slightly at this, so that Louis would have to hear her, whether he wanted to or not.

'About a hundred years ago, the world was in a mess. There were no countries, but clans of people were constantly at war. Everyday people died, the groans and screams of agony filled the air ('Not any different to school, it is?' shrugged Jan). This age of chaos needed a ruler, someone who would keep the Earth at peace. Many battles were fought, for everyone wanted this divine privilege ('Who wouldn't,' grumbled Louis).

'Then there came a young man, who's name was Julian. He was brave, strong, but too power-hungry. He wanted a place of the gods, to rule; to dominate ('I guess that means me,' sneered Deep). He decided that the only place where he could get that power was on the highest summit on Earth, Mount Avia.

'Alas, he received the power, but paid a terrible price. For as soon as the dark force entered in living body, flames began to consume his flesh, charring it and transforming him into a living corpse ('Oh yeah,' cheered Bevin Witheran, 'I love barbecues.'). The very ground beneath his feet rocked violently as the mountain cracked and split into many pieces. He was not harmed, for he acquired an armour so strong that it could only be penetrated by the toughest of swords (at this, Deep ran a thumb on his own smooth blade). His might grew, and he was merciless; not long after his transformation he had the whole world and all it's nations in his hands. He used the people for his own evil purposes, and that time of ruin was even worse than the Age of Chaos.

'Then came seven people. Their names were Divnac, Firzen ('That name sounds awfully like that snivelling little snot,' cursed Davis quietly), Rudolph, Depth, Nathan, Louisen and Hendrik, all of what remained of the Dragon Tribe, except for Firzen. Firzen was actually an ally of Julian's, but, in refusing to sacrifice his sons in order to gain an even more overwhelming authority that was to be shared between him and Julian, he turned away from him, and instead became a spy for the remnants of the Dragon Tribe. They disliked Julian strongly for the way he enslaved and oppressed the people.

'And so, they crosses a thousand rivers, swam a thousand seas and climbed a thousand hills, just to get to his palace. They challenged him to a brutal battle. They were victorious, and the people were free. Julian was banished, and rested in the wilderness, until one day, hundreds of years afterwards, when he finally awoke. He vowed to destroy, if not annihilate, the heirs of the ancient heroes. Firzen, who was also immortal, sensed the coming of Julian. He was afraid of Julian's wrath, and he knew that his end was near. He tried to hide from his former friend, but failed dismally. He was killed. His only hope lay in his two sons, whom he attempted to save before his death.'

Davis shuddered. He had heard these name before. In his dream. He looked back at Freeze, who was gaping, open-mouthed, at Firen. Davis was a bit nonplussed. The fragments of information drifted in his head like pieces of sawdust on old water. Despite his feeling at Dennis's disappearance, he made a mental note to tell Firen and Freeze what he had dreamt.

'Julian is currently in disguise, a menacing evil from the dawn of time, lurking, waiting...to kill.

'And that is why,' she concluded, 'You,' she turned her head to Davis, 'And you,' she moved her face swiftly to Woody, 'And Dennis, must not be separated.'

There was silence as both of them felt the truth sink in slowly. They both felt weak, hopeless, weary...

'Why, ma'am?' interrupted John, with a small squeak. Mrs. Letraviel bowed her head, 'The are the only heirs of the ancient heroes that I know of...'

'And what's up with the crazy Science teacher?' Deep's voice piped up from the desks. 'Ah,' she said heavily, 'I have a suspicion that he, is Julian.'


End file.
